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I am a complete newbie when it comes to parafoil kites. Picked up my first single line parafoil (HQ easy parafoil) for $20 this weekend. As advertised I pulled the kite out of the bag attached it to the included line using the bridle attachment loop, using the lark head knot (all these things were picked up on the magical youtube). The kite starts to rise but then dips to the left (my right). Then it sort of collapses onto itself and drifts to the ground. Am I doing something wrong. I wanted a single line parafoil so that my 2 year old can hold onto the string for some time without any intervention from me. Please chime in with any questions, suggestions, comments because I really want to make this work.

OK, one potential cause ruled out! I don't know exactly how such a kite is bridled, but it sounds as if the leading edge of the kite is too far back, leading to the angle of attack to be too steep. Is there any way you can change the bridle settings and so the angle of attack of the sail?

With some of the small "pocket parafoils" you need to really make sure your not close to anything that can create wind turbulance or they will do that and the bridles get twisted up pretty easily where all the lines join so double check before launch.. Also parafoils are the one kite that will not fly true without a tail, especially the small ones. I have premiers small foil and prisms stowaway foil and neither on will fly well at all with the tails removed. So if it didn't come with a tail pick up a 10 footer for it. They also tend to need a good stiff breeze of at least 6 mph to get aloft and will "dance" in gusty conditions.

As far as small parafoils go out of all the ones I have owned Prisms stowaway has been the best with premiers a close 2nd.

OK, one potential cause ruled out! I don't know exactly how such a kite is bridled, but it sounds as if the leading edge of the kite is too far back, leading to the angle of attack to be too steep. Is there any way you can change the bridle settings and so the angle of attack of the sail?

Angle of attack on these is pretty much built in and doesn't need to be adjusted. However, you can have the bridle twisted up at the attachment loop or one line on the leading edge a bit shorter than the rest.

OK, one potential cause ruled out! I don't know exactly how such a kite is bridled, but it sounds as if the leading edge of the kite is too far back, leading to the angle of attack to be too steep. Is there any way you can change the bridle settings and so the angle of attack of the sail?

Let me try to answer that the best I can since I don't know all the terms. The bridle is attached to the kite at 4 points, two along the spine (near the top and bottom) and two at the edges. The two points along the spine are connected by a single thread and the center of the thread has a knot and a little loop after the knot. Same for the two points along the edges. Both these come together at the center to attach to the bridle loop and to the kite line through that. I have noticed that the center bridle and the edge bridle are not the same length. When I hold the kite at the bridle connection point and let it hang loose, the kite settles at about 45 degrees angle. Are you saying that it needs to hang perpendicular to the ground?

Another thing, the tail that came with this foil is a single nylon streamer. It connects to the kite at the bottom, one end to the extreme left and other to the extreme right. Am I supposed to measure it and cut it at the center to let both sides of the kite have an independent tail?

I am trying to fly this thing on a school ground which is about 200 * 100 meters and it is ringed by houses. The school building is by far the biggest one and is about 50 meters behind me. Winds were out of the south, and were coming over the school building.

The single tail provided is sewn onto the kite and is about 5-6 meters.

One thing I plan to do today is to take a diamond and a delta today with me along with the parafoil. The diamond flies real nicely when the winds are ok, and that probably might be an indicator of how the winds are.

When I hold the kite at the bridle connection point and let it hang loose, the kite settles at about 45 degrees angle. Are you saying that it needs to hang perpendicular to the ground?

45 degrees sounds about right (definitely shouldn't be perpendicular, as that will prevent it from going up), so another explanation bites the dust! Checking that bridle lines at both sides are of equal length can't hurt, as making sure they're not entangled anywhere. Hmmm, running out of ideas ...

45 degrees sounds about right (definitely shouldn't be perpendicular, as that will prevent it from going up), so another explanation bites the dust! Checking that bridle lines at both sides are of equal length can't hurt, as making sure they're not entangled anywhere. Hmmm, running out of ideas ...

I need to start proof reading my post a bit more carefully. I meant parallel to the ground. I will check length of the bridle lines when I get home. I might just have landed a bad piece. Still plan to try and make it work since now its a challange . Please post any experimentation that you would like me to try out, based on your experiences.

Will probably order the prisms stowaway foil that was mentioned earlier in the thread to make sure my two year old does not think dad is a total loser and cant even fly a kite.

Before I forget: You guys are awesome to respond back so quickly... Thanks.

I am trying to fly this thing on a school ground which is about 200 * 100 meters and it is ringed by houses. The school building is by far the biggest one and is about 50 meters behind me. Winds were out of the south, and were coming over the school building.

That sounds like a pretty tough venue. The wind below 20 or 30 feet is going to be unstable. Best to try launching the kite on a long line. Reel out 40' or so of line and have an assistant hold the kite for launch. Pull in line hand over hand to get the kite to rise quickly up to where things are more stable. with good ground wind just about any kite can be launched from your hand and reeled all the way back in again.

In an area surrounded by trees and buildings you can really get a sense of the ground wind when reeling in a kite. At a certain point it gets a squirrelly and crashes.

YEp Allen is right. THat school building is the big culprit and you wouldn't get good wind untill you get above the roof level. The shortest distance you should try for from a building to your position is 1/4 mile but thats not always possible in most areas so you try to keep the buildings to one side or the other. If the school is your typical flat top box building then your winds is really going to be crappy below roof level. Look for a spot where the wind would be going alongside the building and it should be better flying, not much but still better. IN that spot you would want the wind coming over the houses since the roof slopes don't affect the wind as much so look for north, west or east winds and if its south winds IMO look for a new spot

I seem to remember from somewhere (maybe an old AKA brochure?) long ago the standard of wind turbulence extending twice as high as the highest object upwind, and at least 3 times the size of the object downwind. So, a tight schoolyard surrounded by trees and buildings puts you and a disadvantage. Added to that is parafoils function best in smooth winds, like you'd find at the beach or in a large park. But, I used to fly a 5 sq ft parafoil as a kid in my neighborhood elementary school yard, long before I knew I shouldn't, and had a blast. I remember the first 100 ft or so being a real challenge. I would check the bridle for any obvious flaws by laying the kite flat on the ground, maybe weighting it down flat, and holding the bridle tow point directly above the mid-line of the kite. It should look even. Beyond that, just experiment. Long line launches are a good idea. Pull as smooth as possible.

Maybe as a second kite you would consider a framed kite. Prism makes a great diamond, as do most of the major makers. Gimmick shapes make kites harder to fly. Keep that in mind as your 2 year old eyes the dinosaur shaped kite. Delta kites almost always work well. You might also consider either a Prism Triad, or a Popcan. Those kites are meant to be less stable, so you can make all that diving and swooping look like it's intentional.

The affect of an object on wind turbulence depends more on its shape than size. A brick wall will have a greater affect than a chain link fence for example. THe rule of 3 times the height extending down wind is pretty close but use your senses as they will tell you more than anything else. IF your near a building and your hair is blowing all over then your in the turbulence if its blowing in one relatively steady direction then the wind is ok.

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